speechanddebate@francisparker.org sepley@francisparker.org

Coach Epley attended Kennedy High School in Richmond, CA and competed in virtually every speech and debate event available at the time including policy debate, Lincoln-Douglas (LD) Debate, Congress, original oratory, original prose and poetry, impromptu, extemporaneous speaking, and dramatic interpretation. She qualified for the 1986 National Tournament in LD in Oklahoma, providing her with her first opportunity to travel beyond the west coast. She helped to start the debate team at the University of Washington from which she graduated with a degree in international relations.. After graduating from Stanford Law School, she worked as a deputy public defender representing indigent criminal defendants at all stages of a criminal case including jury trials. In 2014 she was appointed to serve as a judge on the San Diego Superior Court. When her daughter Sophia Epley ‘21 transferred to Parker in 2018 as a tenth grader, there was no speech or debate club or team that was actively competing in tournaments so she and Sophia initiated the development of a speech and debate team that really took off once Alec Sheres ‘22 and his mother Danica Sheres became part of the team.  This is Coach Epley’s sixth year of coaching the team. 

john_owens@ca9.uscourts.gov

John Owens serves on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Prior to becoming a federal judge in 2014, he was a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and a federal prosecutor for more than 11 years in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and San Diego. The television show American Greed featured two of his prosecutions, and he obtained the longest sentence for a white-collar defendant in the history of the Southern District of California in United States v. Cao.

John graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School in 1996, where he was an Executive Editor of the Stanford Law Review.  After graduation, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and for the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

John graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley, where he majored in history and worked for the Golden State Warriors.  He also appeared in several plays.

John competed in speech and debate for Bellarmine College Preparatory, where his team won the California State Championship in his senior year.  As a junior, he finished ninth overall at the State Championship in informative (expository).

John and his wife Marjorie are the parents of Jaclyn (2023) and Audrey (2027).

mthiebach@francisparker.org

Mark Thiebach currently works in the school's Advancement Office as the Director of Alumni Relations, where his main focus is to create and maintain a vibrant alumni community inspired to connect, network, engage, and support each other and our school throughout their lifetime. He returned to Parker in July of 2024 after previously working in the Upper School from 2000-2019 as a teacher, coach, advisor and administrator during that time. Mark Thiebach was the Associate Head of the Upper School, Director of Global Studies and coach of the girls soccer program when he left to become a principal in the Diocese of San Diego for the past five years. 

During his time working in the Upper School he had the pleasure of assisting a handful of students in starting both the Speech & Debate and Mock Trial clubs/teams. The team started mostly as a Parliamentary Debate program and have obviously grown over the past five years. Francis Parker's mock trial program took over rapidly with the assistance of two dedicated and knowledgeable ADAs who quickly grew the program into what it has become. 

He graduated from the University of San Diego with a B.A. in International Relations and a M.Ed in Educational Leadership. 

dsheres@aol.com

This is the fifth year that Coach Sheres has been assisting and coaching the Parker Speech and Debate Team. She jumped right in to help  start the team five years ago, inspired by her son's desire to compete and Coach Epley's willingness to give her time and experience so freely. She has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is the parent of three Parker boys, Ben 2020, Alec 2022, and Asher 2026.

prem1235@gmail.com

Coach Kumar has been coaching Speech and Debate for three years. He is a parent coach and enjoys helping students improve their public speaking and communication skills. He has a Master’s in Electrical Engineering and Executive MBA degrees and works in high tech industry.